England

New UK offshore factory planned for northeast England

UK: A British company says it has secured the £20million investment it needs to build an offshore manufacturing plant in northeast England.

The factory will build monopiles for offshore foundations in the North Sea

The company, Tag Energy Solutions, said 400 jobs would eventually be created once the factory had been completed. The plant will specialise in building foundations for offshore wind farms.

Tag said the manufacturing plant would be located at Haverton Hill, Billingham. Its plans are the latest in a number of offshore factories to be announced for the area.

Last month, steel producer Corus announced a similar plan. It said it is to build a £31.5million offshore foundation plant in Redcar, Teeside, producing monopiles for offshore wind turbine foundations. The company believes the facility will create around 220 jobs.

The location, which is near Immingham, Lincolnshire would mirror a similar project set up at the German port of Bremerhaven. It is currently awaiting planning approval.

The UK has been lauded for its commitment to offshore and passed the 1GW barrier this year. However, it has also been criticised in home quarters for allowing a large proportion of the jobsresulting from the projects to go overseas.

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